Amitié
by Jemi Gr
Summary: [CATS fic] Electra is furious when she finds out Jemima and Mistoffelees are attending the Jellicle Ball together -- as a couple. Something as stupid as a tom couldn't break up their friendship -- could it? *Complete!*
1. In Which Cats Are Maddened

****

Amitié

Jemi Gr.

Chapter One: In Which Cats Are Maddened by the Selection of Dates for the Midnight Dance

Oh, how I hate Jemima! I hate her! I hate her! thought Electra bitterly. _It's not fair! Nothing ever goes right for me, ever! It's not fair! _The brown queen tried desperately to stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks like waterfalls, but it was no use. _It's not fair! I hate Jemima._

She laid her head down on her paws, and as her thoughts turned to earlier that day, her tears began to flow harder…

*~*

"So, apparently Tumble asked Jemi to the Ball, but for some reason she turned him down… don't tell anyone, but I think she's sweet on Pouncival," giggled Electra's best friend, Etcetera, excitedly. "And this year, it's Victoria's turn to 'lose her innocence.'" Etcetera giggled at the very thought of it. "Obviously she'll be with Plato."

"What about you?" asked Electra. "Who are you going to the ball with?"

Etcetera waved a paw in the air. "No one." Seeing the look on Electra's face, she hastily added, "No, it's okay, I don't want to go with anyone. Having a date would distract me from Tugger."

Electra rolled her eyes. "Don't you think you're a little obsessive?"

"Obsessive? Me? You've got to be kidding," said Etcetera. Electra wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not. "Hey, it could work between me and Tugger! He's not going to the Ball with anyone either!"

"Etcy, don't be stupid," said Electra. "Everyone knows Bomba wants him to be her date, and Bomba isn't the kind of cat who takes no for an answer."

Etcetera pouted for a moment. "Well, it's not like you have a date either," she said after a pause.

"So?" snapped Electra.

"So you gotta ask someone!" cried Etcetera. "Let's see, you could ask Tumble if he ever stops making goo-goo eyes at Jemima… or you could ask Pounce, if Jem hasn't asked him already. But if you did, and he said yes, she'd probably be terribly angry with you… cause I think she is sweet on Pouncival… but don't tell her I said that."

Electra sighed. To tell the truth, she already had her eye on a certain tom… but she would never, ever, in a million years tell Etcetera who. Never. Her talkative and bubbly best friend would blab it all over the Junkyard, and _everyone _would laugh at her and the object of her affection would turn all red like he was so prone to do… she wouldn't mind this part, though, because he looked ever-so-cute when he blushed… but then he'd be really angry at her because he got really embarrassed when he blushed which only made him blush even more…

"Ooh!" Etcetera's loud squeal brought Electra back to reality.

"What?" said Electra, sounding rather annoyed.

"Tugger!" cried Etcetera, pointing enthusiastically to the corner of the Junkyard where the Rum Tum Tugger had appeared from and was now standing, looking cool (at least in any female's eyes. To a male it would seem as if he was posing for a stupid contest, but that is just because toms are toms and therefore toms are generally left in the dark about whether other toms look cool or stupid.)

Anyway, Electra looked towards where her best friend was pointing. Her heart skipped a beat. Her paws got sweaty. Her eyes got wide. She started trembling nervously.

Etcetera noticed the sudden change in her friend's manner. "I know, he's gorgeous, isn't he?" she sighed.

"Um… uh… urg… raaaaaa…" said Electra.

Etcetera shook her head. "And you say I'm obsessed! Come on, let's go say hi. Jemima's already over there." She grabbed her friend's paw and started to pull her over to the Rum Tum Tugger.

Meanwhile…

"You look like you're posing for a stupid contest," said Mistoffelees to his friend Tugger just moments after the two entered the Junkyard. 

The Rum Tum Tugger rolled his eyes. "So much to learn, so little time," he said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" shot Mistoffelees indignantly.

"Well, you came here to find a date for the Ball, right?" said Tugger, not moving from his cool-stupid pose.

"No! I mean, yes! No, I mean… I mean yes, but what that's got to do with it?" stammered the tuxedo cat.

Tugger once again rolled his eyes. "Face it, man, you're not exactly a babe magnet."

"I do alright!"

The Maine Coon raised one eyebrow and looked down at his friend. A grin began to spread on his face. It got wider and wider and wider until he finally burst out laughing.

"Wha-at?" said Mistoffelees. "I was serious!"

This only made Tugger laugh harder. Mistoffelees scowled. "If you don't stop laughing right now, I'll tell Bombalurina you still sleep with a night light shaped like a cupcake."

Tugger instantly stopped laughing. "Listen, man, if you want a date, you just have to act cool. You know, calm down. Loosen up. Don't be so uptight about everything. Chicks dig that. Oh, and try to slouch some more. Standing up all straight like that makes look like you're posing for a stupid contest."

Mistoffelees made no visible effort to obey Tugger's words. The Maine Coon sighed. "Now, listen, here comes Jemima. Rumor has it that she turned down an offer to go the Jellicle Ball from Tumblebrutus, meaning she's currently available. Some say she's sweet on Pouncival, but that's not true, because I know for a fact she's trying to set him up with Etcetera. So when she comes over here, just act cool, and after a few minutes of conversation, 'how are you', 'blah blah blah', ask her to the dance. And don't forget to slouch."

"But what if I don't want to go to the dance with Jemima?" asked Mistoffelees.

"Do you not want to go to the dance with Jemima?"

"No, no, I want to go with her," said Mistoffelees hurriedly.

"Well, then."

"Hi Tugger! Hi Mistoffelees!" said Jemima cheerfully. "Are you excited about the ball?"

"Oh, yeah, sweet thing," said Tugger, grinning slyly at her. "I'll see you there, cutie."

Jemima grinned and giggled.

"Ouch!" said Mistoffelees suddenly. Tugger had just elbowed him – hard – in the ribs. "What was that for?"

"It rhymes with ouch and has an 's' at the beginning," hissed Tugger.

"Souch?" said Mistoffelees, confused. "Oh!" He quickly slouched over.

"Misto? Are you okay?" asked Jemima worriedly. "Are you hurt? Is something wrong?"

"Actually… uh… yes, Jemima, something is wrong," said Mistoffelees, straightening his back and sneering at Tugger. "The problem is, you don't have a date to the ball yet and I don't have a date to the ball yet."

"Gee, that's a terrible problem," said Jemima, a smile growing on her face. "Whatever shall we do to fix it?"

"I just don't know," said Mistoffelees sadly, shaking his head.

Jemima giggled. "You want to go to the ball with me, Misto?"

"Sure," he said, smiling.

"Hi Tugger! Hi! Hi! Hi!" said an excited voice.

"Hey babe," said Tugger to Etcetera, causing her to giggle madly. "Or should I say babes…?" He winked at Electra, who did nothing.

"Um, Electra, you do realize that your eyes are the size of milk saucers, don't you?" asked Jemima. "You alright?"

"Um…. ugh…"

"She's probably overcome by my greatness," said Tugger, smiling. "Or perhaps she's overcome by the greatness of my sidekick?" He motioned towards Mistoffelees. "I gotta hand it to you, Misto, even I would have had a hard time pulling that one off."

Mistoffelees blushed.

"Ahhhhgggggaaa," whimpered Electra.

Etcetera smiled brightly. "So who's everyone going to the ball with?"

"I'm going with every queen who'll have me," smiled Tugger, causing Etcetera to giggle madly.

"I'm not going with anyone," she said when she recovered.

"And you?" asked Electra shakily, pointing to Misto. It was the first legible words the magician had heard her say all day. All week, for that matter.

"Jemima," he said. His date grinned broadly. Electra's jaw dropped.

"Oh, that's great, Leccy, that frees both Pouncival and Tumblebrutus up for you!" cried Etcetera excitedly.

"Huh… no… can't… Jemima… I gotta go," she said frantically, running off quickly.

"Oh well, more Tugger for me!" cried Etcetera to her retreating back.

*~*

And that brought her back to where she was now. Dateless. Hopelessly in like. And terribly mad at Jemima.

__

I should tell him I like him, thought Electra. _Maybe he likes me too…_

If he liked you, why would he ask out Jemima?  


Maybe he didn't ask her out. Maybe she asked him out and he didn't want to turn her down…

You know Mistoffelees isn't like that… he wouldn't go out with anyone unless he really liked them.

But maybe if I tell him that I like him, maybe he'll find out that he likes me more than her…

Oh, come on. That stuff only happens in stories.

Yeah, you're right.

Thank you.

"Electra?" said a timid voice from the entrance to the pipe which Electra had claimed as her own personal hiding spot. The brown queen recognized the voice immediately, and it was the next-to-last she wanted to face right now.

"Go away, Jemima," she said in between sobs.

"Electra, what's wrong?" asked Jemima.

"I don't want to talk about!" she cried.

"Come on, Leccy, tell me," pleaded Jemima gently.

Electra stubbornly shook her head no.

"Please?"

Electra sighed. "_How could you?!?_" she exploded.

"How could I what?"

"Go to the Ball with him! How could you? You _knew _I liked him! You knew!" she cried desperately. "I hate you! _I hate you_!"

Jemima's eyes widened. "I didn't know, Electra, I swear, oh my, I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," said Electra grumpily.

"Leccy, I swear, if I knew you liked him I never would have asked him out…"

"Well you should have guessed! We're supposed to be friends, right?"

Jemima's eyes started to fill up with tears. "I'm so sorry, Electra. I'd tell him that I can't go with him, but… but…"

Electra turned away.

"But I like him too, you know?" finished Jemima sadly.

Electra said nothing.

"Come on, Leccy, don't be like this," pleaded Jemima. "Come on, I'll fix you up with any tom you like. You like Tumblebrutus? Done. How bout Pouncy? I was trying to fix him up with Etcy, but she's not interested. Or maybe Alonzo? I know he's older than us, and Etcy says he's into Cassandra, but nothing's official yet and I bet I can get him to ask you out…"

"I don't want them!" said Electra, turning back around to face her friend. "I want Misto! He's the one I like!"

Jemima sniffed. "But I like him too…"

"Jemima, if you're my friend, you'll dump him now," demanded Electra harshly.

Jemima sniffed again, and then began to shake her head. "No," she said. "I won't do it. If you were my friend you'd be happy for me!"

"Are you saying I'm not your friend?" asked Electra angrily.

"No!" cried Jemima. "No, I didn't mean it like that, Lec, don't be like this…"

__

"If you were my friend, you'd dump him!" said Electra again.

Jemima was crying very hard now. "I can't, Lec, you gotta understand…"

Electra turned around and folded her arms. "I'm sorry, _Jemima_, I don't talk to cats who betray their friends!"

"Electra…" pleaded Jemima, but it was no use. "Well, fine," said Jemima, slowly crawling out of the pipe. "Some friend you are."

"I hope you two have a miserable time!" shouted Electra.

"And I hope you have a miserable time _by yourself_!" shouted Jemima back.

As soon as Jemima was out of earshot, Electra began to sob again. Oh, she hated Jemima… how she hated her.

*~*


	2. Why Does My Day Delay?

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Chapter Two: Why Does My Day Delay? Why Can't Time Just Flow Away?

When Electra dared to venture from her pipe late that night in search of a tasty mouse to munch on, the first thing she heard was… nothing. There was clearly no one around, and if there was, they were not moving and not making a sound. This was good. Now she didn't have to face a hundred thousand cats asking her what was wrong or why Jemima was so mad at her. She really didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

She glanced around in search of a tasty morsel. Ah, there was one, over by the tire! She crouched down low and watched it for a few minutes, then with a great leap, pounced high in the air and landed a good ten feet away from it with an 'Oomph!'

"Darn it!" she cried as the mouse scurried away. She quickly followed it, spotting no other rodent in the immediate vicinity to chase after. The mouse scurried over the tire and up a junk pile. Electra crouched, waiting for the opportune moment, and pounced again. She missed. Again. _I wish I could pounce as good as Pouncival or Tumblebrutus_ she thought desperately. _They would be biting that little mouse's head off right now._

The mouse had stopped and was looking around frantically for the cat. Electra crouched down again, ready to pounce…

__

Squish.

A black paw had appeared out of no where and grabbed the tail while another black paw sunk its claws deep into the mouse's flesh. _Squish._ Electra cried out.

The smiling white face of Mistoffelees suddenly appeared out of the shadows. His grin got even larger as he pulled the lifeless rodent from his claws and handed it to Electra.

"I would have gotten it!" she said indignantly.

"Sure," said the magician sarcastically. "Why are you out hunting so late?"

"Don't you know?" asked Electra, surprised at her own ability to talk to her crush without stammering over her words.

"Electra, I'm a magician. I'm not physic," said Mistoffelees. Electra raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so just a little bit. But I'm no Tantomile. Answer the question."

"What I meant was, I thought you could figure it out from whatever Jemima told you," said Electra glumly, just now realizing that Jemima would have told Mistoffelees that she had a crush on him. What did he think of her now? Well, the fact that he hadn't run away screaming at the sight of her was a good sign… she hoped.

"I just came out now so I wouldn't have to face Jemima," whispered Electra.

Mistoffelees sighed and looked away.

"Why are you out here so late?" asked Electra curiously.

The tuxedo cat had now brought his gaze up towards the stars. "Just came out here to think about things, that's all."

"Think about what sort of things?" asked Electra curiously.

"I don't know," sighed Mistoffelees in the tone of voice that suggested to Electra that he knew perfectly well what.

"The stars are nice tonight," said Electra, trying to make conversation.

"The stars are always nice," murmured Mistoffelees.

"Except when it's cloudy," said Electra.

"No, the stars are still nice, even then," said Mistoffelees. "If you took a diamond and covered it with a sheet, does that make the diamond less beautiful? No, it only means that you are not meant to see its beauty at that moment. But the time will come when the sheet is taken away. It always does."

Electra was not quite so sure how to respond to this statement, so she said nothing. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Mistoffelees looking at the stars and Electra looking at Mistoffelees. "Misto, what's wrong?" asked the brown queen gently.

"What do you mean?" asked Mistoffelees quietly, bringing his gaze down from the stars and looking Electra directly in the eye. She almost melted. "Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong."

"Cats just don't sit on piles of junk, late at night, looking at the stars, thinking about nothing," said Electra. "Something's on your mind. You're upset, it's obvious. What's wrong?"

Mistoffelees sighed. "Are you sure _you're _not the one who's physic?" he murmured, turning away from Electra. 

"Rest assured that I know nothing more than that which is blatantly obvious," said Electra, proud of herself for using such adult-like words. The tuxedo cat smiled, and said nothing for a few minutes.

"Jemima said…" he began, and Electra gritted her teeth. It was coming now, Misto was going to tell her that Jemima said that she had a huge crush on him. Oh, she was going to be so embarrassed! Luckily it was dark, he wouldn't see her blush quite as much…

"Jemima said she couldn't go to the ball with me," whispered Mistoffelees painfully.

"She said she couldn't go to the ball with you?!?" exclaimed Electra.

"You don't need to rub it in," said Mistoffelees gloomily.

"I'm sorry," said Electra quickly. "I'm just… I can't… why would she do that?"

The magician shook his head dejectedly. "I don't know. She probably got a better offer. From Pouncival or Alonzo or someone. Maybe even Tugger. He said he was looking for a way to make Bombalurina jealous."

"That's not like Jemima," said Electra quietly.

"Yeah, you're right," said Mistoffelees glumly. "But I can't really blame her. I mean, how am _I _supposed to compare with Tugger or Alonzo?"

"Oh come, Misto, there are lots of queens that like you," pleaded Electra.

"Oh really?" said Mistoffelees sarcastically. "Like who?"

"Like… I don't know…" Electra trailed off.

"I told you," said Mistoffelees, shaking his head. "Tugger was right, queen like toms with muscles and good looks who slouch a lot. You buy into it too, Electra!"

"No, I don't!" protested Electra.

"Really? Then why do you like Tugger so much?" he asked.

"I… I don't," stammered Electra. 

"Of course you do," murmured Mistoffelees. "You all do. How am I supposed to compete with him? It's not my fault I'm small. I can't help it if I'm shy. And if I want to stand up straight, is there really something wrong with that?"

"No, there's nothing wrong with that," said Electra quickly.

"Then why do queens like Jemima always ditch me?" he asked. "You know, I really liked her! I still do! I thought she liked me too. I thought she was mature and wouldn't care that I'd rather sit in the background than be the center of attention. But I guess, you know, no matter how mature you are, toms like Alonzo and Tugger are always going to come out ahead of me. I guess I better get used to it."

Electra tried desperately not to start crying on the spot.

"I'm sorry, Electra," murmured Mistoffelees suddenly. "You probably feel really uncomfortable… I'll just go…"

"No, wait," said Electra suddenly. She took a deep breath. "Jemima didn't leave you because she got another offer."

"Then why did she?" asked Mistoffelees.

Electra bit her lip. "She dumped you because… well, because… I told her too."

Mistoffelees rounded on Electra. "You what?"

"I told her to dump you," said Electra, her eyes filling up with tears. "I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking, I didn't think she would actually do it…"

"Well she did do it!" cried Mistoffelees, his brown eyes flashing.

"Listen, Misto, I'm so sorry, I never meant for this to happen…"

"Just tell me why."

"What?"

"Tell me why you told her to break up with me."

Electra swallowed. "Well… um… I guess I owe it to you to be honest, so… uh… I was jealous. There! Now it's out."

Mistoffelees blinked. "You were… jealous? Why? Because she had a date to the dance and you didn't?"

"No!" cried Electra. "Well, yes, that was part of it, but the most of it was that her date to the dance was you!"

Mistoffelees blinked again.

"Do you need me to spell it out for you?" cried Electra, now rather angry at his stubbornness. "I L-I-K-E Y-O-U. There! I like you!"

Mistoffelees didn't say anything.

"Well, say something!" sputtered Electra.

"Um… alright," said Mistoffelees, lifting his eyes and gazing at Electra. "Will you go to the Jellicle Ball with me?"

*~*

"Jemi!"

Jemima turned around to see Electra running towards her. "Come to yell at me some more?" she asked gloomily.

"No, I came to apologize," said Electra frantically. "I was a huge, huge, huge, huge, huge idiot and I'm really, really, really, really, really sorry."

"No, I should be the one apologizing, Lec," sighed Jemima. "I should have known you liked Misto! I mean, it was rather obvious, considering you turned into a pile of Jell-O every time you saw him. I should have put two and two together, but I was so caught up in my own infatuation with him that I didn't see it. I'm sorry."

Electra did not want to seem stupid, so she did not ask what in the Heaviside 'infatuation' meant. She would have to ask Jennyanydots later. "No, Jemima, it's not your fault," she said. "How could I blame you? All you did was ask a tom to the ball. I'm sorry."

Jemima smiled weakly. "Apology accepted."

"But you were kind of an idiot, though," said Electra.

"What do you mean?" asked Jemima.

"You dumped him!" cried Electra. "What were you thinking?"

Jemima looked at the ground. "Well, I thought, you know, its kind of stupid to throw away a lifelong friendship for a relationship with a tom that might only last a couple days."

"Yeah, it is," sighed Electra. "I was a real idiot, huh? From now on, friends before toms, okay?"

"Okay," smiled Jemima. "Deal."

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Electra said, "So, are you going to ask him back out?"

Jemima turned to her in surprise. "Are you kidding me?"

Electra smiled. "Nope."

Jemima shook her head. "Friends before toms, remember, or did you forget already? I'm not going to ask him out if you like him. That's just cruel."

"No, it's okay, I swear," said Electra. "Friends before toms also means you'll support your friends when they find a tom – no matter who it is."

"Unless it's Tugger," laughed Jemima. Electra nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, he's kind of an exception to every rule, isn't he?"

"So you'll be okay with it if I ask him out?"

"Who, Tugger?"

"No, stupid!" said Jemima, rolling her eyes. "Mistoffelees!"

"Oh, him," said Electra. "Yeah, I'm okay with it. Besides, you two make a cuter couple than me and him anyway."

Jemima smiled. "Thanks, Electra. You're a real friend."

"Any time, Jemi, any time."

*~*

The Jellicle Ball was in full swing. Electra watched Mistoffelees and Jemima dance happily together from her perch on the tire. They were both extraordinary dancers, which was another reason why they made a good couple. Electra did not exactly consider herself graceful.

Everyone was smiling, singing, dancing, rejoicing. Old Deuteronomy would be appearing soon and then the Jellicle Ball would really begin. Electra smiled to look at them all… Mistoffelees and Jemima, Victoria and Plato, Munkustrap and Demeter, Tugger and Everyone, Alonzo and Cassandra, Admetus and Exotica, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, and Jemima had even gotten Etcetera to dance with Pouncival for awhile. Everyone was so happy, and Electra was especially happy because Jemima was happy. The youngest kitten of the tribe was having the time of her life, and it was obvious.

"Hey, Electra, why aren't you dancing?" asked a voice behind her. The brown queen expected it to be Mistoffelees, but when she turned around, she was surprised to see the patched face of Tumblebrutus smiling back at her.

"Well, I'm not really much of a dancer," admitted Electra truthfully.

"It's okay, I know what you mean," said Tumblebrutus, moving forward to sit next to her. "I can do tumbles and flips and stuff, but I'm not that good at that graceful stuff."

Electra laughed. "Yeah, same here. So who are you here with?"

Tumblebrutus looked down at his paws. "To tell the truth – no one."

"Yeah, me too," said Electra, also looking down at her paws. They sat for a few moments in awkward silence.

"So, um, Electra," began Tumblebrutus. "Do you wanna go… uh… be ungraceful… together?"

Electra laughed, and took Tumblebrutus's paw in hers, causing him to blush heavily. "Sure."

So in the end, the sheet that had been covering up the beautiful diamond was lifted off. Just like Mistoffelees said it would. So things hadn't worked out the way Electra would once have liked them to. She could deal with that. And who knew? Maybe her time with Mistoffelees would come on another warm summer night. Maybe it wouldn't. Right now, she didn't really care either way. She would face whatever life and love threw at her with her friends always at her side.

If that wasn't comforting, she didn't know what was.

~fini~

Author's Note: Can it be? Can it really be? Did Jemi Gr not only just write a story that was not Mistoffelees/Electra but Mistoffelees/Jemima instead? Why yes, I do believe it's true! *faints*

I still say Misto and Leccy look cuter together though. Ah well. Now you can't say I didn't try Misto and Jem.

jemi gr, 1-august-2003


End file.
